Trump's $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas Will Impact Tech Sector
Only new visa applicants subject to heightened fee
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Sept. 19 requiring a $100,000 fee for highly skilled foreign workers in the H-1B visa program, a significant increase that will largely impact technology companies that have long relied on the program to hire foreign talent.
"The H-1B visa program was designed to temporarily bring highly skilled foreign workers to the U.S. to supplement, not replace, the domestic workforce," Trump said in the White House proclamation. "However, widespread misuse has shifted the program into a cost-cutting tool, particularly in information technology. Employers and outsourcing firms have leveraged the program to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor, often requiring laid-off employees to train their replacements under nondisclosure agreements."
In the first half of 2025, Amazon and its cloud-computing unit, AWS, received approval for more than 14,000 H-1B visas, the largest beneficiary of the year. Other top recipients include Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as IT consulting companies Tata Consultancy Services and Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Other industries also would be affected. J. Mike Sevilla, an immigration attorney at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis, said that the $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions "would be devastating to several industries as it would significantly prohibit the hiring of foreign national talent in this visa classification."
Who Is Affected
The fee requirement applies to any new H-1B visa petitions filed after midnight on Sept. 21. H-1B workers already in the U.S. and those with a pending or approved H-1B petition or valid H-1B visa status currently outside the country should not be impacted.
The Trump administration has provided limited guidance for how employers will pay the fees. It is recommended that H-1B workers not plan to travel outside the U.S. until entry restrictions are clarified. Employers of H-1B workers should stay updated on legal developments.
Litigation to challenge the proclamation is expected, and court orders could mean new instructions for H-1B workers and their employers with little notice.
The proclamation gives the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the authority to grant an exception to any individual, all foreign nationals working for a specific employer, or all foreign nationals working in a specific industry, if it is in the U.S. national interest and does not pose a threat to U.S. national security or welfare. The new fee is set to expire after one year unless extended.
The proclamation also stated that additional guidance is forthcoming to prevent misuse of B business visas and to revise prevailing wage levels to prioritize highly skilled foreign workers.
Since taking office in January, Trump has made some expected moves to limit immigration, but the surprise announcement to reshape the H-1B visa program in this way is the most significant of any of his immigration policy changes.
Under the current system, entering the lottery for an H-1B visa costs $215 for sponsoring employers, and, if approved, subsequent fees can amount to several thousand dollars. The H-1B visas are approved for a period of three to six years, which, under the new requirement, would add at least a hundred thousand dollars in costs for each person hired, hitting smaller technology firms and start-ups particularly hard.
"While SHRM understands the Trump administration's goal of protecting the American worker, we encourage them to consider unintended consequences that could create major barriers for employers — particularly small and midsized businesses," said Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff, head of government affairs, and corporate secretary at SHRM. "We urge the White House to work with stakeholders to strike the critical balance of protecting American workers while ensuring employers can access the critical skills our economy needs."
H-1Bs Spark Debate
Proponents of the H-1B visa program argue that it allows U.S. companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business by hiring talent for hard-to-fill roles.
The government grants 65,000 H-1B visas annually, with another 20,000 reserved just for people who hold advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education. Annual demand for the visas exceeds the supply, triggering a lottery system.
Critics say the program is an "outsourcing visa," for workers with entry-level skills who are willing to work for less than the salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers. In this scenario, IT staffing firms hire the foreign workers, often from India, and contract them out to U.S. employers.
India is the largest provider of H-1B workers each year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries in 2024, followed by China at 12%, according to government data.
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